Ok I transfered 1700 books on my PRS-505 reader, some on the reader and the rest on a 2Gig SD, which are organized in 110 collections, but once I deconnect the reader from the eBook Library it keeps reseting over and over again, like it is not able to process such a big list.

I plugged it back into the Library and all my collections have been wiped on the SD card, but the books are still there.:help:

And with all those books the eBook Library programs take 1.2G or RAM...

And with all those books the eBook Library programs take 1.2G or RAM...

I'd recommend to NEVER use any memory cards at all for books or music. Just load less than 15 books on the internal memory and STOP! I even deleted all the data files which came with the unit including pictures, music and book samples.

The RAM and Processor are simply not the equivalent of a PC. Even the internal memory requires empty space for temporary files.

Your test has simply proved that thesis. This Sony 505 READER is just good for reading from page to page on one or two books at one time. Store all the rest on your PC.

I use it for reference and need my collections. I spend the better part of the week converting my references and organizing them, this is really pissing me off.

Just load less than 15 books on the internal memory and STOP!
That would make the Reader much less useful to me, & I'm sure many people. I only have 128 books in 15 collections right now, but everything works fine.


Bird, are you're files LRF's, PDF's, RTF's??? What/how did you get them ready for the Reader? With more details maybe someone will have some ideas.

I used to have a 500, so I know how you feel. But let's be honest. The Sony Reader is exactly that, a reader. It was made to read fiction one book at a time, and that's all it can do.

It was not made to be a reference tool. That's why it doesn't have any search functions or dictionary lookup.

From what we've seen of the behavior of the software, they apparently didn't think that anyone would actually use the card slots.

If you need a reference tool, then a Kindle might do the job. If not, then you should start looking at the Iliad, a UMPC, or a laptop. The Sony Reader simply cannot do what you need.

I use it for reference and need my collections. I spend the better part of the week converting my references and organizing them, this is really pissing me off.

If you need this function, then buy a Notebook PC and get MS Reader. You can do mass searches, look up words in an attached dictionary and keep numbers of books on the HD to the limit of its capacity (1000's of books).

You can do a "find" for any word and keep typed annotations on any word or phrase. It has highlighting as well.

Actually that is where I am coming from, I use to get my material on my tablet pc, but it was heavy and battery suck. The reader was perfect for my need.

Again this is a proof that Sony developpers are really bad at software design, I looked at the files they generate and this is really really bad.

Anyway, I will keep it to a minimum for now.

Anyone knows if the iRex illiad has the same kind of limitation?

Ok I transfered 1700 books on my PRS-505 reader, some on the reader and the rest on a 2Gig SD, which are organized in 110 collections, but once I deconnect the reader from the eBook Library it keeps reseting over and over again, like it is not able to process such a big list.

I plugged it back into the Library and all my collections have been wiped on the SD card, but the books are still there.:help:

My reader after putting 2000 books in ite behaved in the same way, then it stopped resetting, autoditched the library made by the pc program, and recreated the library from scratch.
Now, it work, but a little slow :D
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17455

I own a PRS 500

I've got 450 books on mine. It is just beginning to be a bit sluggish when I exit a book to go back to the main menu, although the individual page turn speed is still just as fast as it was when new once I got a book opened and reading.

On my PC the software is having trouble running. (Under windows task manager resources tab it says Sony Connect software uses 1.6 GB of ram to run!!!! I only have 1 Gig of Ram so its always adding ram through the virtual memory program)

I think I've just about maxed out the little guys memory cranking abilities. After Christmas I'm going to go through and ruthlessly cull out books I know I wont be reading for many years and choose books I'm certain to be reading and strip it down to 200 books. The rest I'll keep on my computer and add as needed.

I try and remember that this technology is still in its infancy and we are dealing with the 'Commodore' of the book reader generation. I have no doubt that, as time passes and thanks to the popularity of the Kindle, better and better e ink based readers will come available on the market.

I'm gonna lurk in the weeds with my lousy 100 books on my great Sony 500 and wait until a perfect reader comes along with the ability to handle ONE MIILION BOOKS!!! (Little finger to corner of mouth like Dr. Evil from Austin Powers) Then i'm gonna pounce like a Mongoose!

Until then try and not get too mad that it has limitations and read away!

1.6 GB of ram to run seems ridiculous to me

As Roy said, it will store a lot of books. I stress tested my 500 a while back with a 2 GB SD card and loaded about 1,100 books. It was a little slow on the return to menu command but otherwise it was fine.

I would suspect that there were a few problems with some of the 1,500 books loaded in the collections. Perhaps an incremental load rather than an all at once would be better and allow the Sony to preprocess the books in a reasonable time.

I try and remember that this technology is still in its infancy and we are dealing with the 'Commodore' of the book reader generation.

That's a great way to look at it!

It took me awhile but I finally was able to get a working iso of the project gutenberg books : http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:The_CD_and_DVD_Project

17,000 public domain books @ 4.5gb

So it seems loading them up on 2gb memory cards isn't the answer for the sony reader?

Better to use the PC to pre-sort or convert, say, +/- 100 books at a time?
What about using smaller mem cards so the reader doesn't have to sort so much is that viable?

Getting a bunch of 512meg SD cards is a good idea. Then you can have smallish collections on each card that won't bog down the reader.

That's a great way to look at it!

It took me awhile but I finally was able to get a working iso of the project gutenberg books : http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:The_CD_and_DVD_Project

17,000 public domain books @ 4.5gb

So it seems loading them up on 2gb memory cards isn't the answer for the sony reader?

Better to use the PC to pre-sort or convert, say, +/- 100 books at a time?
What about using smaller mem cards so the reader doesn't have to sort so much is that viable?

Better idea would be to plunk down $10 and get most/all of these books in native lrf format from silkpagoda, imo.

I got a Sony 500 with 1700 books in txt formant and 2 collections. Most of the books are on a 2 GB SD card. The loading processes was slow and painful. I had to load like 10 MBs at a time.

Better idea would be to plunk down $10 and get most/all of these books in native lrf format from silkpagoda, imo.

The only problem I have with this (I did buy that disc) is that the titles are very cryptic and that makes it much harder to organize them the way I want to, which is to be able to view all the ebooks I have on my computer and decide which ones to move to the reader.

As to the original problem which started this thread, buy a 4GB memory stick and use that, since we're discussing a 505 which claims to be able to handle this capacity. That leaves 2GB for the actual library and collections plus 1.5 GB for the database file that the reader builds to catalog all of them, and you should be fine.

It'll take a long time for the reader to catalog them all, the first time you disconnect from the computer, but once you've done that, with the 4GB memory stick, you should be just fine and still have all your reference works.

The only problem I have with this (I did buy that disc) is that the titles are very cryptic and that makes it much harder to organize them the way I want to, which is to be able to view all the ebooks I have on my computer and decide which ones to move to the reader.

The titles and authors show up perfectly (and as sortable fields) if you load them into the Connect/Library program. If you want to deal only with raw files, well, then you gotta take the bad with the good I guess. :chinscratch:

The titles and authors show up perfectly (and as sortable fields) if you load them into the Connect/Library program. If you want to deal only with raw files, well, then you gotta take the bad with the good I guess. :chinscratch:

I wonder if they've changed the files since I bought the disk, then.

When I open the sonymax folder (the one with all the books in it) all that shows up for the titles is 02ocf.lrf and the like, no actual book titles showing up, no authors, nothing that is helpful at all.

Nothing like you're saying there should be -- certainly I can open each book and see the title/author there, but there's nothing that shows that information in the normal book listing screen.

The only way I can see the book titles or the authors is to go to the separate folders I made when I first got the disk and did the file renaming process I mentioned earlier.

Do they really show up on your computer? I don't want to buy another copy of that disk, but I may have to, if you're correct.

I wonder if they've changed the files since I bought the disk, then.

When I open the sonymax folder (the one with all the books in it) all that shows up for the titles is 02ocf.lrf and the like, no actual book titles showing up, no authors, nothing that is helpful at all.

Nothing like you're saying there should be -- certainly I can open each book and see the title/author there, but there's nothing that shows that information in the normal book listing screen.

The only way I can see the book titles or the authors is to go to the separate folders I made when I first got the disk and did the file renaming process I mentioned earlier.

Do they really show up on your computer? I don't want to buy another copy of that disk, but I may have to, if you're correct.

Please read my post a bit more carefully. Your disk is fine. I repeat:

The titles and authors show up perfectly (and as sortable fields) if you load them into the Connect/Library program. :p

Not necessarily open them up individually, but adding them to your Library.

After reading this thread, I can't help but putting my 2 cents in.
From the beginning, we're all have learned about those new gadget with their up and down the hard way. My experience telling me that every SINGLE items I've ever purchased (dvd camcorder, digital camera...etc), their softwares are poorly designed. I found most of readers here are quickly putting the CD that included by Sony and install it. It does not optimize for most computer and it WILL drag it down (with that 1.6 RAM lagged).
Let's keep it simple, organize the book in your Document folder. Connect the Reader (using Right click explorer or Go to MY COMPUTER) to see it, then transfer like a USB flash drive. I found it much more easier and simple to use. Those manufacture discs, unless you absolute in need of a driver, other than that, put it in the trash bin. I hope this will enlighten new way for common users.

Please read my post a bit more carefully. Your disk is fine. I repeat:

The titles and authors show up perfectly (and as sortable fields) if you load them into the Connect/Library program. :p

Not necessarily open them up individually, but adding them to your Library.

Aaaah -- dawn breaks on marblehead! Thank you -- I was looking at the folder as it sits on my hard disk in the Connect/Library software, not necessarily adding them specifically to the library. I hadn't realized there would be a difference, but now I see that there is and I thank you for being persistent in your explanation.

So here's a feature request for the next upgrade of Connect/Library software -- in looking at a .lrf file in the explorer portion of the software (where you can look at all the files on your computer and decide which ones to drag to the library) the program reads all the appropriate data and displays it without our having to specifically load it into the library. It just seems like such a silly extra step to have to take, especially for many books which I'll remove from the library as soon as I know what they are if they're not in the genres I like reading.

But armed with this new knowledge, I'll be able to figure that out by loading the 10,000 files into the library and then deleting those I won't ever read.

Thanks again for your persistent explanation.:)

Aaaah -- dawn breaks on marblehead!

That was a favorite saying of my 10th-grade math teacher back in the 70's! :D I grew up outside of Boston.

So here's a feature request for the next upgrade of Connect/Library software -- in looking at a .lrf file in the explorer portion of the software (where you can look at all the files on your computer and decide which ones to drag to the library) the program reads all the appropriate data and displays it without our having to specifically load it into the library. It just seems like such a silly extra step to have to take, especially for many books which I'll remove from the library as soon as I know what they are if they're not in the genres I like reading.

Good idea. Will Sony do it? Probably not. :( But it is clearly possible and would be useful. Glad I could help.

am I missunderstanding something in this thread?

isn't that blatant false advertising? I mean, ... how can they legally add an SD card reader that "supports two gig cards" if their software is incapable of handling 2 gb of books?

I was thinking that when I get a reader, I'd put 5gb of books on three SD cards and always have them with me. I sail (for weeks at a time)... and don't like to open my laptop at sea (it usually doesn't work so well because the harddrive shuts off at the top of every wave), and can't really read off an LCD anyways. I can't fire up my laptop every time I want to change books. If you can't store your books on SD cards.... that's absurd.

I really don't understand the problem from a technical perspective. It doesn't have to load every last book into memory just because it's in the SD card. If it does attempt to load every single book into memory, then someone obviously has their head very very far up their ass... am I wrong?

Why should an index of 2gb of books take 1.6gb? I mean, it's nice of them to index the author/title/etc for quick lookup, ... but ... where's the other 1.59gb go?

so... sony doesn't have a QA team or what? no one tried filling the thing with books and turning it on? I'd think that would be the first item on the test plan... wouldn't it?

Do any other ebook readers really have this problem? the hanlin, iliad, cybook, kindle, nuut? anyone know?

I had 2100 books on my reader. It was slow but it did handle them. I have since dropped it down to about 500 books on th reader and swap and go as I have the desire to change the books out. Using a 2 gig SD card and a 1 Gig Sony Stick.
I don't convert all of my books, many are strictly in text and they work fine.
Just my 2 cents worth. After 3 months I am still completely happy with my 505...but then I had been reading my e-books on an Axim X50V for the last couple of years so the 505 is a big step up.

isn't that blatant false advertising? I mean, ... how can they legally add an SD card reader that "supports two gig cards" if their software is incapable of handling 2 gb of books?

Of course we still don't know what kind of files were/are causing the OP's problem. Are they LRF/LRX files? Are they PDF's or something else? How were they generated? I don't know as I'm only up to 150 files on my Reader, but it seems to me that the type of file & how they were created could have a lot to do with how well the device handles them.

I like the idea of having thousands of books at my disposal, and it does sound like there are problems with having this many books on the device but without knowing more about the details of each problem it's hard to know if it's all the devices fault or not.

When folks are having these issues are they contacting Sony? The problems need to be brought to their attention if folks want them addressed. The more complaints/questions the more they'll know what an issue it is.

Can you have Collections on the device or is it only on the memory card? How do you create Collections? Thanks! :)

Can you have Collections on the device or is it only on the memory card? How do you create Collections? Thanks! :)

Yes you can have collections on the device. Using the Sony software you click the little plus sign in the bottom left corner. That will create a blank collection you can then name & add books to, kinda like a playlist on an MP3 player.

It's not as good as having a foldered file system would be, but it does help with organization.

Yes you can have collections on the device. Using the Sony software you click the little plus sign in the bottom left corner. That will create a blank collection you can then name & add books to, kinda like a playlist on an MP3 player.

It's not as good as having a foldered file system would be, but it does help with organization.

Oooohhhh THANKS! :D

Sadly I have to use the software but oh well.

Oooohhhh THANKS! :D

Sadly I have to use the software but oh well.

I think Kovid's software (libprs500) will do collections too, so you don't have to use Sony's program if you don't want to. Personally I don't really have any major problems with Sony's software.

I don't have a "problem" using Sony's software but it is an awfully crude program.

Even stuff like using the "+" symbol to add a collection is stone age. Windows API wrappers to program simple context menus (right click, chose New Collection) is literally child's play in every programming language I've dabbled in. Yet somehow beyond Sony programmers?

A hot tip for the Sony boys -- don't reinvent the wheel.

And what is up with not allowing functions like "delete this book" (or even a delete flag) from the reader itself? Not the end of the world but just how hard is it to sync both ways?

Sony's software annoys in so many ways!

I don't have a "problem" using Sony's software but it is an awfully crude program.

Even stuff like using the "+" symbol to add a collection is stone age. Windows API wrappers to program simple context menus (right click, chose New Collection) is literally child's play in every programming language I've dabbled in. Yet somehow beyond Sony programmers?

A hot tip for the Sony boys -- don't reinvent the wheel.

And what is up with not allowing functions like "delete this book" (or even a delete flag) from the reader itself? Not the end of the world but just how hard is it to sync both ways?

Sony's software annoys in so many ways!

Your complaints are all valid for most people on this forum, but you have to imagine the much larger audience for which Sony is hoping to aim the Reader. If the books could be deleted on the Reader, there would be so many people complaining to Sony simply because they clicked the wrong thing and their book got erased.

The potential market for the Reader goes way beyond people who are comfortable around electronics which are not made foolproof, so my guess is that Sony has left off a lot of things that you and I and others on this forum would love in an effort to minimize the problems for a larger audience.

I can imagine many people eventually using the reader but handing it to a family member or friend and saying -- please order me this-book and that-book and load it onto the reader for me. One family member or friend serving as "tech-support and chief book-loader/deleter" for a wider circle of Reader users.

The problem is not really the number of books, but putting those books in collections. Sony really did a shitty job designing the firmware of this device, instead of just discovering what is in folders it has to keep a (single) file with all the information. So if you have 1500 books, that is 1500 entries in the xml file, and each entry is many lines since the author, date, type, etc... is also included, now if you start adding these files to some collection, then you have one entry per collection, and one more entry per book per collection, no wonder this file get so huge and the reader can't process it anymore.

To me it looks like Sony has a bunch of developpers without a software architect and/or product manager, they do whatever they think at the time without looking further for usability.

David, I am exactly that "tech support and chief book-loader" (more like book manager) for my wife's 505. She only knows enough to plug it in to recharge.

Even to a wider audience it is not currently intuitive. The wider audience uses Windows so why reinvent Windows methods? I can see where a technophobe might prefer the Kindle to avoid the whole Sony-altered PC experience.